Zash

Where Comments are First-Class Citizens!

Source Code

zash is built with Zig the most awesome programming language. You can find the source code in the zash/src sub-directory. The zash sub-directory per se is the Zig project directory, where you can build an executable binary via the Zig compiler.

How to Build from Source

Download the master development Zig compiler from https://ziglang.org/download/ . Extract the archive and add the path to where your OS looks for executables. You should be able to run zig version from the command line now.

Now in the zash sub-directory, you can run zig build to obtain a debug binary in zash/zig-out. For a release build, you can run zig build -Drelease-fast. Binaries all always placed in zash/zig-out when using zig build.

Running the Sample

A sample zash source code file is provided as example.zash. It demonstrates how the langugae treats comments as first-class citizens. Namely it shows:

1. Comments start with #: and can either end at the next newline or at a closing :#.
2. Comments can be nested.
3. Comments can be stored as values in variables.
4. Comments can be passed as arguments to functions, so functions can have comments as parameters.
5. Comments can be returned from functions.

To run the sample, build your binary executable via zig build as explained above, and provide hte zash source code file as a parameter. For example:

$ ./zig-out/zash ../example.zash

Langugae Features

The language is quite limited, but does have some basic features:

1. Only integer numbers are allowed. We all know that God created the integers, all else is the work of man. :D
2. Arithmetic operations on integers (+, -, *, /).
3. Comment concatenation with ++.
4. Function definition and calling.
5. Variable definition with the infix := operator.
6. Variable assignment with the = operator.
7. Boolean literals true and false.
8. Integer and Comment equality / inequality via == and !=.

The langugae is mostly whitespace agnostic, only using newlines as relevant breakpoints for expressions in some contexts. No semicolons at line endings allowed, but could be made optional without much fuss.

Here's the example file for reference:

#: Welcome to the zash Programming Language!
#: Where comments are First-Class Citizens.

#: Comments extend to the end of the line...
y := #: ...can be assigned to a variable. :#

x := 2 * 4 #: ...can be embedded! :# / 2

y = #: ...can be #: nested :# too. :#

#: This function concatenates comments.
#: So it receives comments as args and 
#: returns a coment. First-class baby!
fn comment_concat(a, b) {
    a ++ b
}

#: Here we pass a comment literal(?) and
#: a variable containing a comment as a value.
comment_concat(#: Pre: :#, y)